Former Topsham candidate faces third drunken driving charge

TOPSHAM, Maine — Jean Wolkens, a former candidate for the Legislature and Board of Selectmen who was charged twice in January with operating under the influence, was charged with OUI again March 7.

Wolkens, 43, of Meadow Road, was at Woodside Elementary School to pick up one of her children when, according to Lt. Frederick Dunn, a witness called police to report seeing her on her hands and knees outside her vehicle.

Officer William Collins arrived on the scene and found Wolkens intoxicated, according to police, although her blood alcohol level was not immediately available from the Police Department.

Wolkens was taken to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and issued a summons on charges of operating under the influence and violation of a prior conditional release after an OUI charge in Brunswick.

Wolkens, who ran unsuccessfully last November to represent House District 60 in the Legislature, and then in January for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, was charged Jan. 11 in connection with a motor vehicle accident the evening of Dec. 16, 2012, where she allegedly drove into a tree off Meadow Road. Her blood alcohol content at the time of the accident turned out to be 0.22 percent, or nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

She was charged against for OUI by Brunswick police in late January after she was reportedly seen falling before getting into her vehicle, and then backed her car up onto another vehicle.

Wolkens, who is scheduled to appear in West Bath District Court twice this month on the first two charges, could have to return to court again in May for the third incident.